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A federal judge has blocked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s sweeping changes to the nation's childhood vaccine schedule
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a significant setback for one of the administration's most controversial health policy moves
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The ruling sides largely with major medical groups that argued the administration improperly changed vaccine recommendations
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and reshaped the federal advisory panel that helps guide them. In his opinion, the judge sharply criticized the administration for bypassing the CDC's Independent Vaccine Advisory Committee
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calling the move, quote, a technical procedural failure itself and a strong indication of something more fundamentally problematic
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an abandonment of the technical knowledge and expertise embodied by that committee
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Kennedy removed all 17 members of that committee last year and replaced them with new appointees
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several of whom have been critical of vaccines. Under Kennedy, federal health officials revised the childhood immunization schedule, reducing the number of diseases routinely recommended for vaccination
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The judge also put on hold actions taken by Kennedy's reworked advisory panel, which had been scheduled to meet again this week in Atlanta
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The Trump administration is already signaling it plans to fight the decision
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In a statement to Straight Arrow News, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said the administration, quote
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looks forward to this judge's decision being overturned, just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing
